X.app: Play fullscreen YouTube video on iPad connected to external display via HDMI
Fullscreen Video Extension
Besides Picture-in-Picture Extension, X.app also contains a Fullscreen Video Extension, which has 2 purposes:
- activate native iPadOS fullscreen video mode with controls like skip buttons and play scrubber;
- show fullscreen 16:9 video on external display with iPad connected via HDMI
App Store download link: https://apps.apple.com/app/id1533525753
Native Fullscreen UI
Sites and apps like YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo, Facebook and others use custom fullscreen interfaces on iPad.
Websites provide HTML based interfaces which are less responsive compared to native iPadOS fullscreen UI and lack useful features.
YouTube HTML fullscreen interface:
Native Fullscreen iPadOS UI, which provides skipping buttons, play scrubber and volume controls:
Fullscreen 16:9 video on external display via HDMI
When you connect your iPad to an external display via HDMI, sites and apps like YouTube, Twitch, Vimeo, Facebook and others are going to show videos in mirrored 4:3 mode with black lines on the sides:
This is where X.app’s Fullscreen Video Extension comes in place, as the fortunate side effect of native iPadOS fullscreen UI is the fullscreen output of the video on external display:
Demo: iPad connected to external display via HDMI:
- YouTube website with HTML fullscreen UI
- YouTube with X.app’s Fullscreen Video Extension
- YouTube app fullscreen UI
- YouTube inside X.app’s In-App Browser with Fullscreen Video Extension
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Overall, X.app provides superior experience for watching fullscreen videos on iPad.
